The Delta independent., 1887-06-14
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER
From opr regular correspondent.
WASHINGTON, June 5th. 1888

Washington is left alone among the
beauty of its highly cultivated parks.
The national drill is now thing of
the past. and very bad dream, ii is
feared, financially. a dream that will
assume Il painful reality when the pro-
motr!S of the affair have to make good
the reported deficit of $4,000. But
there is no authentic statement of the
expenses yet presented, indeed it is not
yet possible to have had in all the
items of expenses, and a better show
ing may be hoped for. Of the drill it.
self there can he no question of its sue
cess. In point Of numbers many more
could have been accommodated and well
coined, Such a vast area as the por-
tion allotted to the camp. and so large
4 space as the drill ground would have
required three times the number OF
men who attended to have filled it, and
us the preparations were made for IA
great number the expenses have been
az
are out of pocket perhaps, the Toledo
Cadets have had their Just and bitter
disappointment assuaged by their bril-
liant reception ut EUme, and the two
home companies, the Washington
Light Infantry and the National Rides,
are made forever bitter foes, and so
endeth the drill, happily in spite of
many things not happy in themselves.
The annual session OF the association
of Mechanical Engineers has been held
this week. This organization numbers
over seven hundred members, All of
them are not present at this session,
however. but representatives from all
parts of the Union are. On Wedues-
day evening they were given recep-
tiOu at the beautiful residence of.ex-
Commissioner Dent. This house is
one of the handsUmest III the city, IN
regard to view and situation it is un-
dOubtedly one of the finest in the dis
trict. On Georgetown Heights, in
park of noble cid oak trees, the broad
house with its wide halls and windows
has an air of solidity and permanence
not often to be met with in American
houses. The reception was largely at
tended by many prominent persons,
residents and visitors, and the mem
bers Of the association, with the ladies
accompanying them. must take away
with them the pleasantest impressions
of Washington, as indeed any visitor
here during the month of May must be
sure to do.
The count OF the cash in the treas
ury prior to the transfer of the Office
of treasurer from Mr. Jordan to Mr..
James W. Hyatt, Of Norwalk, Conn,
has begun and will continue indefinite
iY. The National bank notes, the legal
tenders, and silver certificates, were
counted in two days. but when it
comes to silver dollars piled stack up
on stack i'll the vaults it is another
matter. If the men who succeeded in
forcing the making of law to pur-
chase two million of silver bullion IA
month (2,5O0,O00 standard silver dol
lars) could witness this count. they
might probably realize the enOrmity of
their otfense. Each thousand dollars
weigh sixty pounds, aud is tied in ia
separate bag. The bags are passed
one by one down a line Of from eight
to twenty men according to the dis
tance to be traversed from one vault
to another, each bag is weighed in the
presence of Il committee, and piled up
again in vaults that have to be braced
up by strong beams on the outside to
prevent the silver from bursting the
walls, Every available space in the
treasury is now occupied by these bags
of metal, and some idea of the magni-
tude of the subject may be reached and
brought nearer IA practical conception,
when it is understood that this store is
added to each. month by fifteen thous-
and pounds of silver in Ave thousrnd
bags. Where will it end? When will
it stop? Washington will become a
second Pompeii. and he buried, not in
ashes, but i'll silver.
The lleeting character of Washing
ton life was most sadly exempliGed the
otlier day. when it was desired to give
Sir Edward Thornton. the former min
lister from Great Britou to the United
States, ii dinner. Sir Edward Was re-
quested TO make out list of those of
his former friends here lio would like
meet again. He did so, and of all that
ilst. numbering men once active and
prominent in political and social lie,
| but one could he found in the town.
The Others. where? Dead or forgotten
IN tue oblivion of some distant small
town.